Berklee Helps Build Homes in New Orleans

By

Mitzi Dorbu

June 18, 2008

Berklee has almost doubled the number of staff that will travel to New Orleans this year June 23-28 to spend a week building homes in the New Orleans Musicians' Village. This is the latest effort from the first college of jazz in the birthplace of jazz, and the second time the college has sent staff to work on location. Last year, the effort was documented by several media outlets to remind Bostonians that the rebuilding process continues in that region. One of those stories ran on Boston's CBS-TV affiliate, WBZ. Read updates written by this year's Berklee team on the Berklee in NOLA blog.

This is Berklee's only sponsored volunteer program for staff and this year includes faculty as well. A committee reviewed letters of intent submitted by applicants describing their motivations and expectations for the experience. Sponsorships include travel, hotel, meals, and daily expenses. The team will work from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. No previous construction experience was required; all training will be done on site.

Outreach began a month after Hurricane Katrina hit, when Berklee organized the New Orleans Resurrection Brass Band to march in Boston as a fundraising event featuring alumni and Big Easy natives Donald Harrison and Christian Scott. That year the college also hosted New Orleans musicians for teaching and performing residencies whose lives were affected by Hurricane Katrina, including Ellis Marsalis, Marva Wright, Harrison and others. Since then two tremendously talented young musicians from the area, Joe Dyson and Max Moran, have been awarded the prestigious, full-ridePresidential Scholarship and a full-tuition scholarship respectively for study at the college.